News from ASCA
ASCA Weekly Wrapup
A roundup of the week's education-related headlines
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
Advice for the College-Bound: Wait
The Washington Post
During nearly four decades as a high school counselor, I had generally recommended a "gap year" only to students who needed to mature. But in this wheezing economy, when jobs are precious and even state colleges are increasingly expensive, I have become a believer in the educational and financial benefits of taking a breather. Read more.
Students Make New Lunch Time Pals
The Salt Lake Tribune
Everyone knows that cliques reign over school cafeterias. The jocks rule from one corner, the smart kids do their homework in another, and the theater kids cling to their own tables. But some Utah schools tried Tuesday to change that with a simple idea: they asked students, for one day, to sit with different people at lunch. At least 14 Utah schools, along with nearly 2,900 others worldwide, made the request as part of Mix it Up at Lunch Day, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project. Read more.
Students Discovering Online Collaboration
New Jersey Real-Time News
Remember when technology in schools meant computer labs and Internet connections? New Jersey teachers and students are slowly but increasingly using the tools of Web 2.0, the so-called second generation of the Web that includes creative, collaborative, shared content. Students are writing on wiki pages, blogging about their classroom activities, recording audio files for band practice, videoconferencing with people around the globe and chatting online about literature. Read more.
As Unemployment Rises, Kids' Future Dims
The Wall Street Journal
Want to know what the true lasting impact of this recession will be? Then take a look at the kids. A parent's job loss increases the probability that a child repeats a grade in school by roughly 15 percent, according to a new paper from two economics professors at the University of California, Davis. Read more.
Suicide Preention Can Start in School
Edutopia
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 10-24. Furthermore, 15 percent of high school students in a recent survey said they had seriously considered suicide within the previous year. Teens are also particularly vulnerable to the phenomenon of suicide contagion, where one death seems to initiate others. Read more.
Chicago Magnet Schools Admission Plan Transformed
Chicago Sun-Times
A greater share of prized Chicago magnet school seats would go to the brothers and sisters of current magnet students, as well as to neighborhood kids, under a long-awaited magnet admission plan expected to be unveiled. And for the first time in Chicago, the income level and other socio-economic factors in a child's neighborhood would play a role in whether that child is admitted to a magnet school, sources say. Read more.
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